An uneasy tension rippled through the conference room, its source unknown.

The stiff table sat silent, not even a breath stirring the air.

Only the atmosphere itself was taut, as if a single touch might shatter it.

Was this how the calm before the storm always felt?

“…I have a question.”

Amid the held breaths, a casual voice broke the silence.

Kim Su-hyun turned toward the sound and saw Je-gal Hae-sol alone, lips twitching as if struggling to suppress something.

“You introduced yourself earlier as Mercenary Lord Kim Su-hyun, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“So, you’re basically the counterpart to Kim Su-yeon here, just with the genders swapped?”

“What do you want to ask?”

Je-gal Hae-sol interlaced his fingers, resting his chin slowly on the backs of his hands.

“I just got curious. In your world, what happened to me—or rather, to us?”

There was a certainty in his tone, as if he already knew the answer.

“Be honest.”

His eyes darkened with depth.

“We died.”

Kim Su-hyun answered immediately.

He glanced slowly around at the stunned faces, especially at Yoo Hyun-ah.

“I was the one who killed her.”

He added quietly.

“Why…?”

After a brief stir, Yoo Hyun-ah asked in a faint voice.

“I thought she would be an obstacle to my goals.”

“An enemy?”

“It was a complicated relationship.”

“So?”

“There’s a saying: ‘Cut the root to prevent regrowth.’ I judged that she was likely to become an enemy later. So I deliberately created a situation where killing her was justified—to nip the problem in the bud.”

“…My goodness…”

Kim Su-hyun’s expression remained calm, unchanged.

Yoo Hyun-ah covered her gaping mouth with one hand, unable to hide her disgust.

“Wow. How can you be so alike?”

Je-gal Hae-sol’s face brightened, as if hearing exactly what he wanted.

“Jealous, huh? Some people get rescued by a dashing prince on a white horse from another world.”

“…”

“Ah~ I wish someone would come save us too~.”

“…Heh!”

Stretching and sneering, Kim Su-yeon let out a suppressed groan.

Kim Su-hyun shook his head.

“No. Though Kim Su-yeon and I share similar worldviews, we are completely different people.”

“Maybe the gender’s different, but their personalities and actions seem identical.”

“They’re not.”

“Can you prove it?”

Despite the endless taunts and jabs, Kim Su-hyun’s face remained serene.

Then, after a long, steady gaze, a subtle smile flickered at the corner of his mouth.

“You remind me of a hyena desperately hunting for any scrap of advantage.”

His voice was low but etched clearly into their ears.

Je-gal Hae-sol’s smirk faded briefly, then deepened twofold.

“Now you’re getting rude. Even the habit of lashing out when you have nothing left to say is exactly the same.”

“Wasn’t the answer already decided from the start?”

“Our stance has valid reasons and grounds. If we failed to convince you, that’s your fault—not ours. Or should I remind you again of the atrocities committed by the woman sitting beside you?”

“…”

Kim Su-yeon, pointed at, still looked pale and drained.

Her tightly pressed lips trembled—what was she thinking?

“No, it’s fine.”

Kim Su-hyun suddenly nodded.

“After being stabbed in the back once, it’s natural to fear being used again… That’s not an unreasonable thought.”

His voice softened slightly.

“I understand.”

Then his tone shifted.

“After all, I’m an outsider. Someone who will soon leave. I can’t guarantee what User Kim Su-yeon will do afterward. Yes, that’s right. Maybe, as you say, she’s already planning to betray you once I’m gone.”

Kim Su-yeon stared blankly at him, biting her lip miserably.

Her face looked as if she might break down at any moment.

Unable to bear it, she lowered her head.

“So… then. Let’s go to war.”

Kim Su-hyun turned his body slightly and slowly slid out from beside the chair.

“The common enemy—the demons—have already revealed themselves and conquered the entire continent except this place.”

He circled the table as he spoke.

“We drove them out of Atlanta, and half their forces were crushed—a perfect opportunity.”

One step.

“Satan, having received the battle report by now, is surely devising some plan we can’t foresee and will act swiftly.”

One step.

“Even if there’s a way to easily take Terra and deal a crushing blow to the demons—a way that would make everyone happy.”

One step.

“We still can’t form an alliance. Because we cannot make an alliance without sincerity.”

Taking another leisurely step forward, Kim Su-hyun finally stopped, facing Yoo Hyun-ah.

“That sincerity you speak of.”

“…”

“Some fight demons on the front lines, while others lurk behind, waiting to snatch the spoils—is that the sincerity you so desperately call for?”

“W-what?”

Caught off guard, Yoo Hyun-ah stammered.

It was a sore spot she’d been trying to ignore.

“Don’t try to muddy the waters by saying we’re all the same. We didn’t start out with that attitude.”

Seeing Yoo Hyun-ah squirm uncomfortably, Je-gal Hae-sol quickly jumped in.

“The root of all this was the Western Incident.”

“Putting aside the backstabbing, the demon seed is extremely dangerous.”

Kim Su-hyun cut in immediately.

“As you can see from other continents, the infection spreads at an unimaginable speed. What if, following the Northern Alliance’s advice, the seed had spread elsewhere? Could you take responsibility?”

“Why are you like this? No excuse can justify her actions. Hypotheticals now are meaningless.”

Kim Su-hyun sneered.

“Interesting.”

“Huh?”

“You claim the Southern Alliance will betray us—that’s a meaningful assumption. But my words are meaningless assumptions?”

“!”

For the first time, Je-gal Hae-sol’s smile vanished.

Yoo Hyun-ah barely found her voice.

“We’re… victims.”

“So you think that means we should understand?”

Kim Su-hyun scoffed.

“You throw out every favorable assumption for yourselves, but ignore any unfavorable ones?”

“That’s not ignoring!”

“Why is it that your actions are always justified and must be understood, but you refuse to understand others’ actions?”

“Th-that’s…”

“How long will you keep using this double standard?”

“…”

In the end, Yoo Hyun-ah fell silent.

“Don’t you find it ridiculous?”

Kim Su-hyun’s words silenced the two women instantly.

He stepped closer, moving toward where Yoo Hyun-ah stood.

“I do bad things, but I’m aware of it. At least I know I’m not a good guy.”

His cold breath brushed her scalp.

Yoo Hyun-ah gasped softly.

Unconsciously, she lowered her eyes.

Right in front of her was the man’s pitch-black armor.

“Maybe that’s why… when I see people who don’t realize their own actions, who think the other is evil and they themselves are always right and good…”

“S-stop it—”

“I honestly find it disgusting. I can’t stand it.”

“Please stop—!”

Her last words were barely a whisper.

Yoo Hyun-ah screamed reflexively and collapsed.

“Kim Su-yeon committed many atrocities, including the Western Incident. Thanks to that, the northern continent was spared from the demon seed’s spread.”

But Kim Su-hyun paid no mind, taking a breath before continuing.

“Even knowing she would become an enemy, I chose not to kill her.”

At the mention of herself, Kim Su-yeon briefly lifted her bowed head in despair.

“Even here today, we can’t properly use a single secret to take Terra.”

The man in the center looked back at her.

“Even if some call her a tyrant or a fool.”

Her faintly trembling eyes met his emotionless gaze.

“I…”

Kim Su-hyun said.

“I envy her. I think she’s remarkable for still being human.”

At that moment, Kim Su-yeon’s eyes snapped open.

Her chest tightened as if her heart might burst.

“You’re… different from me.”

Words she’d heard before flashed like rays of light through her mind.

Now she finally understood why he had looked at her that way.

Her heart still pounded wildly.

After staring at Kim Su-yeon for a while longer, Kim Su-hyun looked ahead again.

Yoo Hyun-ah was still sitting on the floor, hugging herself tightly.

“I’ve said it many times: if you want war, then so be it. If your hatred runs so deep that you can ignore everything else.”

A grinding sound filled the air.

“That’s cruel…”

“…”

“Then… what… do you expect me to do…?”

“…”

Her trembling voice trailed off.

Was it really that shocking?

Such words were unbefitting of a ruler.

Kim Su-hyun sighed inwardly.

Yoo Hyun-ah looked utterly defeated.

It was unbearable to watch.

This was why.

This was why he hated it.

But…

“It wasn’t the wrong choice. There was just a better one.”

The words of the Zero Code from the multiverse tugged at the back of his mind.

They had already taken the path of excluding Yoo Hyun-ah once.

So this time, it was worth trying a different way.

With that thought, Kim Su-hyun slowly knelt on one knee.

“I’m not asking you to trust me. I’m asking you to trust User Kim Su-yeon—who hates demons more than anyone else—just once.”

“……”

“Weren’t you the same? You knew. You understood what this alliance meant. How important it was. You must have had your own thoughts about it.”

“……!”

Her sobbing stopped.

“User Yoo Hyun-ah.”

At the call, her tear-filled light brown eyes lifted, barely managing to meet the man’s gaze.

“The leader of the Northern Union isn’t Jegal Haesol. The true ruler is you—the sacred Queen Yoo Hyun-ah.”

Kim Soo-hyun leaned forward, bringing his face dangerously close—so close their noses almost touched.

“If someone like you, who’s come this far through a harsh, thorny path, can’t do it, then who can?”

There was an unspoken gravity in his eyes that made Hyun-ah instinctively shrink back.

It was a strange tension she’d never felt before.

“With the conviction of one who stands at the pinnacle over thousands.”

And then—

“Please, just this once, close your eyes to the past.”

Close your eyes.

In that fleeting moment, Hyun-ah almost did.

But her half-lowered eyelids trembled, caught in a silent struggle.

As if saying she couldn’t.

As if saying this couldn’t be.

Then—

“…I beg you.”

It was the first time the man’s voice carried a genuine plea.

At that instant, something welled up inside Hyun-ah’s chest, overwhelming her.

“I…”

Slowly.

“I…”

Slowly.

Very slowly, she closed her eyes.

---------------------------= Author’s Note =---------------------------

And with that, the longest dialogue section is finally over.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how to make it engaging, but since the content itself is somewhat cliché, I imagine many readers found it a bit dull.

Thank you for sticking with it.

From the next chapter onward, I’ll pick up the pace and move the story along quickly.

Also, I have no intention of making Hyun-ah a local wife in this world.

Because she can just become one in her original world. (?)